Correction: Corrected September 17, 2026: the water-level paragraph was withdrawn because this imported legacy edition does not retain its underlying gauge snapshot. Its numerical readings and navigation implications are unverified. NOAA measurement context.
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The St. Lawrence Seaway is poised to welcome commercial traffic this weekend as ice-clearing operations begin in earnest. The Montreal-Lake Ontario section opens at 8 a.m. Sunday, and the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Martha L. Black arrived in Montreal on Tuesday to lead the charge upriver, with a hovercraft supporting operations in the Beauharnois area. Already, three vessels have announced Seaway transits for the opening week: Federal Nagara heading to Detroit, Sakar bound for Johnstown, and Blacky destined for Toronto. Three more, the Groupe Ocean tug Grande Baie, chemical tanker Ek-River, and bulk carrier Theo G, are expected between March 22 and 29.
On Lake Superior, the Canadian Coast Guard Cutter Vincent Massey transited the MacArthur Lock at Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday morning, joining the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spar to prepare Whitefish Bay ahead of the commercial season at the Soo Locks. The 274-foot Massey, originally built in Sweden as an icebreaking supply vessel in 2000, was refit by Canada after her 2018 purchase.
Meanwhile, a draft issue sidelined the tanker Algocanada at Cleveland on March 10. Assisted by tugs Puerto Rico and Pennsylvania, she was towed to the Sunoco dock on the Cuyahoga River but could not secure a berth due to her draw. She departed for Nanticoke without unloading, joining the Algoberta already at Imperial Oil there.
The original water-level paragraph has been withdrawn. This legacy edition was imported from a WordPress draft without the underlying gauge snapshot, so its numerical readings and navigation implications cannot be verified from the archived source data.
VESSEL_SPOTLIGHTMartha L. Black: Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker tasked with opening the St. Lawrence Seaway for the 2026 navigation season, departing Montreal this week to clear a passage upriver ahead of commercial traffic on Sunday.